'Outlander' Season 5 Episode 9 promo sees snake-bitten Jamie make Roger promise he’ll kill Stephen Bonnet
Back in Season 4, when little Willie came visiting with Lord John Grey, the small "slice of life" cold open of that episode showed someone removing a snake from the outhouse bucket hole (a callback to the wooden snake Jamie had carved for little Willie). Snakes abound in North Carolina, where Fraser's Ridge is located, with nearly 37 species in the region. Only six of them are the venomous kind though -- namely, the copperhead, the cottonmouth, the timber rattlesnake, the pigmy rattlesnake, the eastern diamondback rattlesnake, and the eastern coral snake.
Well, one of those venomous snakes gets a toothsome bite of Jamie Fraser when he is out hunting with Fergus, Josiah Beardsley, and Roger Mackenzie. According to the official synopsis of the upcoming Episode 9, "Jamie is bitten by a venomous snake, Claire fears she may not have the resources to save him." So it is safe to presume that Claire will again be frustrated about how little she can do with what she has in the 18th century, despite her growing collection of roots, herbs and yes, penicillin. But this time, her frustration will be layered with personal stakes since the patient is none other than her own husband.
In the promo, she is seen telling Jamie, "Only one of us gets to be frightened at any time, right now it’s my turn,” which shows she might be out of her depth, treating a poison without an antivenom. But horses, known to be hyperimmune to most snake bites, are commonly used to create antivenom and are part of the farm life on Fraser's Ridge. Just like Claire invented penicillin, could she also try her hand at creating an antidote to save Jamie? It seems certainly worth the effort because she tells Brianna in the episode's trailer, “if I were to lose you, or Jamie, I would never be quite whole.”
Jamie, however, seems to be stoic about his possible death from a snakebite except for one bit of nasty business involving who else but Stephen Bonnet. He gets Roger to promise that should he die, he had to take on the burden of killing Stephen Bonnet to protect Brianna and Jemmy. “If I canna do it, you must,” he tells Roger.
Roger shares Jamie's fears with Brianna, telling her: "Your da thinks Bonnet could have arrived to take Jemmy away from us," which is exactly the fear Brianna has too ever since the mysterious "Irish man" left a coin in baby Jemmy's crib.
In addition, since Bonnet now knows that Jemmy will be the owner of River Run, he has a financial interest in establishing himself as the father or at the very least, the baby's guardian. The trailer also shows the farm under attack with Brianna running back to the house and Claire picking up a gun to defend her home as Jamie is obviously too weak to move.
We also see Young Ian turning up to help Fergus and Roger against whoever is attacking. This part of the storyline might have to do with what happened to Young Ian among the Mohawks. Could the tribe be attacking because of some transgression committed by Young Ian when he left? In any case, there seems to be a casualty in the skirmish as Roger seems to be closing someone's eyes and saying, "Lord, have mercy...", channeling his minister father.
The upcoming episode 9 'Monsters and Heroes' will air on April 19 at 8:00 pm ET/PT on STARZ, the STARZ app, and STARZ On Demand.